Leg assembly



Jan. 16, 1962 P. w. R. JQHNSON 3,017,153

- LEG ASSEMBLY Filed June 22, 1959 mmvron PETER nan. Jomvsou ATTORNE Y United States Patent 3,017,153 LEG ASSEMBLY Peter W. R. Johnson, Wilton, Conn, assignor to Johnson Products, Inc., Wilton, C0nn., a corporation of Connecticut Filed June 22, 1959, Ser. No. 821,733 Claims. (Cl. 24S189) The present invention relates to a leg assembly for use with a work table, conveyor and various other types of manufacturers proprietary equipment.

It is an object of the present invention to provide either unit legs or double leg integral assemblies which are slidably positioned on support tracks or guides on the underside of a work table or conveyor frame.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide latching means on the support track and the leg for removably positioning the leg at selected positions along the support track.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a swiveling cam latch on a leg which permits the cam latch to rotate to a position whereby the cooperative latching means on an angular guide track may be engaged and the leg firmly secured to the guide track of a table top or conveyor while permitting the front planar leg surface to be parallel to the front of the table top.

Another object of the present invention is the provision of an intermediate latching means designed to removably secure a leg unit or assembly to a support track of a work table top or a conveyor frame.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide a movable latch rod assembly which is slidable along an elongated support track and may secure a leg thereto at any selected position thereof.

Another object of the present invention is an antirocking leg seat provided with flanges for engaging opposite sides of a support track or channel, the latter being arranged on the underside of a table or conveyor.

The above and other features, objects and advantages of the present invention will be fully understood from the following description considered in connect-ion with the accompanying illustrative drawings.

FIG. -1 is a partial perspective view of the leg as-v sembly and work top embodying my invention secured to a work top,

FIG. 2 is a side elevation view, partly in section of a rotatable cam latch arrangement together with a latching rod and guide channel,

FIG. 3 is a front elevation view, partly in section, of an alternative embodiment of the structure illustrated in FIG. 2,

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a double leg unit incorporated in the present assembly,

FIG. 5 is a side elevation view of another modification of the present invention,

FIG. 6 is a front elevation view thereof, and

FIG. 7 is a side elevation view of the cam latch.

Referring more particularly to the drawings and especially to FIGS. l-4 wherein is illustrated my novel quickly detachable and slidable leg assembly that may be used with work tables, conveyors and other manufacturers proprietary equipment. In FIG. 1, for example, my leg assembly is disclosed in conjunction with a work top 10. Secured to the underside of work top 10 is a guide rail 12 which in the present form is an inverted channel member having inwardly directed flanges 14. Adapted to move linearly on flanges 14 in the directions of doubleheaded arrow A is a latch member or rod 16 secured to spaced supporting elements 18 (FIG. 3). The leg referred to generally by the numeral 20 is provided with a foot 22 of a known, self-leveling type. The upper part of leg 20 is flared outwardly at 24 and is provided with "ice anti-rock or bracing flanges 26 and 28 which firmly engage the opposite sides of guide rail 12. Mounted on the top of leg 20 is a cam latch 30 which is operated by means of a hex wrench (not shown) inserted in hole 32. It should be noted that the assembler of the bench merely slides the necessary number of latch rods 16 and associated structure on guide rails 12 until the proper position for the legs is determined. Subsequently the cam latch on each leg is inserted over each rod 16 and the hex wrench partially rotated until the associated leg and latch rod are securely held together. There is no manipulation of nuts and bolts to removably fasten the leg to a work top, conveyor frame or the like but, on the other hand, the assembler merely inserts a hex wrench into a. hole 32 and rotates the wrench until the assembly is securely fastened. By rotating the hex wrench in the opposite direction, the leg and its associated top, conveyor frame or the like are disassembled.

More specifically as seen in FIG. 7, the cam latch 30 has a pair of spaced, fixed plates 31 having a latching means 33 therebetween and pivoted at 35-. The cam 37 is rotatable by a hex wrench inserted in hexagonal hole 39 to cause the latching means 33 to pivot and securely hold the latch 16 or release the same.

FIG. 4 discloses a dual leg assembly incorporating two identical legs as shown in FIG. 1 with the additional of a bracing element 34. With this construction two dual leg units together with a work top 10 is all that is necessary to construct a work table. The legs 20 will slide along the guide rail 12 until the proper positioning is located and then the assembly may be securely locked to the table top by means of the aforesaid cam latch mechamsm.

The cam latch 30 may be rotatable and two constructions thereof are seen in FIGS. 2 and 3 respectively. In FIG. 2 the camlatch 30 is provided with a threaded stud 36 which rotates in nut 38 and is swedged at 40 in order to prevent the stud and not from becoming disassociated. With the foregoing arrangement, it is ap-, parent that the cam latch device may be rotated more than 360 and-therefore permits the cam latch to be secured to a guide rail 12 placed at any angle on the underside of a work top. Thus, an unusual amount of flexibility is achieved with the present construction. FIG. 3 shows an alternate construction of a rotatable cam latch 30 in which the latter is provided with a projection 42 which passes through an aperture in leg 20. A cotter pin 44 in aperture 46 of projection 42 permits the cam latch 30 to also rotate more than 360 and to be located in many different angular positions relative to a bench top or a conveyor frame. It should be apparent that the foregoing construction has the advantage that if short guide rails 12 are aflixed to the underside of the work top at an angle to the edges thereof the swiveling cam latch permits the leg to be secured to short guide rail 12 and at the same time permits rotatable adjustment of the bottom portion of the leg whereby the front planar leg surface 19 is positioned parallel to the edge 11 of the table 10 (see FIG. 1). This arrangement allows clear spaces on the front underside of the table for the installation of other attachments, if necessary.

FIGS. 5 and 6 illustrate an alternative embodiment of my invention in which a slidable support 48 is provided with a support shaft 50 mounting the cam latch 30 in an upside-down position. In this assembly the latching means or rod 52 is located in the top portion of the leg 20. The support 48 may be slidable along guide rail 12 and may be positioned in a multiplicity of locations aligned with a plurality of holes 54 in the guide rail 12. Thus, by inserting a hex wrench through one of the holes 54 and the aligned hole 32 the leg may be secured to a table top or a frame merely by means of a partial rotation of the hex wrench.

Additional braces may be easily attached to the legs if extremely heavy duty work requires the same, however, under normal heavy duty work the use of the present quickly detachable legs and a suitable work top is all that is necessary for the Work operations performed thereon. It should be noted that the present leg assem bly may be attached and removed from a bench top or conveyor frame without the use of nuts and bolts.

It should be apparent that the present leg assembly may be utilized as a common leg support for adjoining table tops, conveyor sections, or other sectional apparatus which permits simple, quick and positive attachment of a number of adjacent sections. Such a common leg arrangement is disclosed in my co-pending US. patent application Serial No. 786,182, entitled, Work Bench sys tem and filed on Jan. 12, 1959.

While I have shown and described the preferred embodiment of my invention, it Will be understood that the latter may be embodied otherwise than as herein specifically illustrated or described and that in the illustrated embodiment certain changes in the details of construction and in the arrangement of parts may be made without departing from the underlying idea or principle of the invention within the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. A leg assembly for a support comprising a guide track secured to the underside of said support, a latch member assembly slidable in said guide track and having a latch rod therein, a leg, a cam latch, means mounting said cam latch for rotational movement on the top of said leg, said leg having a top portion thereof conforming to the shape of the bottom of said guide track, and a pair of flanges engaging the sides of said guide track to prevent rocking of the secured leg relative to said table top, said cam latch being adapted to removably engage said latch rod at preselected locations on said guide track to securely hold said leg to said support.

2. A leg assembly for a support comprising a guide track secured to the underside of said support, a latch member assembly slidable in said guide track and having a latch rod therein, a leg, a cam latch, screw connecting means on said cam latch and in the top of said leg for permitting complete rotational movement of said cam latch, said cam latch being adapted to removably engage said latch rod at preselected locations on said guide track to securely hold said leg to said support.

3. A leg assembly for a support comprising a guide track secured to the underside of said support, a latch member assembly slidable in said guide track and having a latch rod positioned transverse to said guide track, a leg, a cam latch provided with a stud, said leg being provided with an aperture shaped correspondingly to said stud, means mounted on said stud when the latter is inserted in said aperture for mounting said cam latch for rotational movement, said cam latch being adapted to removably engage said latch rod at preselected locations on said guide track to securely hold said leg to said sup port.

4. A leg assembly for a Work table top comprising a guide track secured to the underside of said table top, a leg movable along said guide track and provided with a flat plate engaging the bottom of said guide track and a pair of flanges engaging the sides of said guide track to prevent rocking of the secured leg relative to said table top, and latching means on said guide track and leg for removably securing said leg to said guide track at selected locations on said guide track to securely retain said leg on said table top.

5. A leg assembly for a Work table top comprising a pair of guide tracks secured at spaced locations on the underside of said Work table top, a pair of legs provided with a connecting spacer member to form a C- shaped unit, said leg assembly being movable along said guide tracks and provided with a part thereof conforming to the shape of the bottom of said guide tracks and a pair of flanges engaging the sides of said guide tracks to prevent rocking of the legs with respect to said table top, and latching means on each corresponding leg and guide track for removably securing said leg to said guide track at selected locations on said guide track.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

